Lucknow: The Indian team, which narrowly won the second T20 match against New Zealand, is disappointed with the Lucknow pitch. Indian batsmen had to play 20 overs to achieve the target of 100 runs. After the match, captain Hardik Pandya vented his anger on the pitch curator. Hardik Pandya said that Lucknow pitch was not for T20 match.
The second T20 match was played between India and New Zealand at Lucknow on Sunday. By winning this match, India has leveled the three-match series 1-1. In the Lucknow match on Sunday, after winning the toss, New Zealand team captain Missional Santner decided to bat first. However, the New Zealand team could only score 99 runs. The Kiwi team struggled to defend a short target but Suryakumar Yadav’s four in the last over sealed a thrilling victory for hosts India. The match was played at Sri Atal Bihar Vajpayee Cricket Stadium in Lucknow. It was a low scoring match. Because the pitch was very bad. After the match ended, captain Hardik Pandya expressed his anger on the pitch.
After the match, Hardik Pandya said that ‘I was confident that we will win this short target match easily, but it did not happen. It was too late to achieve the 100-run target. As the wicket fell, there was a jolt of shock. However, there is no need to fear. The strike had to be rotated on this pitch, and that’s what we did. Focused on the basics. About the pitch, Hardik said that, to be honest, this was the worst pitch in the matches played so far. A difficult pitch doesn’t matter to us, but this pitch was not made for T20. The curator has to ensure that the pitch is good or not.
The batsmen failed against the spinners
Spinners dominated the ground in Lucknow. India’s Sundar Chahal was successful against the New Zealand team while the New Zealand captain also tried 5 spinners including part-time bowlers. Not a single six was hit in this match till 239 balls, which is also a record. The New Zealand team could only manage 99 for 8 wickets in 20 overs. Indian batsmen also had to struggle against spin. The team reached the target of 100 runs on the fifth ball of the 20th over.
India’s bowling coach said, the pitch curator can give the right answer
After Hardik Pandya called Lucknow’s pitch bad, the Indian cricket team’s bowling coach’s statement has come out in this matter. Bowling coach Paras Mahambre said that only its curator can give a proper answer about the pitch of the stadium in Lucknow where the second T20 match against New Zealand was played. However, we definitely knew that the pitch would be challenging. A score of 120 to 130 would have been really challenging on this pitch.